Oral cleaning devices that employ an irrigator feature are known in the art and such devices use an external supply of water. In one category of the prior art, a toothbrush is tethered or connected to a faucet. The water pressure from the faucet is used to propel the water through the toothbrush and out the head of the toothbrush and/or used to power a motor that is used to rotate or move bristles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,010 discloses a toothbrush that includes a hollow body, an opening by the head of the toothbrush, and a water inlet that is tethered and attached to a faucet. In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,997 discloses a toothbrush that is also tethered to a faucet. However, the toothbrush uses the water pressure to power an impeller to move bristles on the head of the toothbrush. In both patents, the water is already pressurized and flowing; the water also cannot be stagnant because the toothbrush does not include any mechanism, on its own, to propel the water out of the toothbrush. Additional toothbrushes that are tethered to a faucet or an external source of running water may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,192, which discloses a toothbrush tethered to a shower head; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,500,973 and 4,257,433, which disclose toothbrushes tethered to faucets; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,823, which discloses a toothbrush tethered to an external source of water that is pumped into and through the toothbrush.
In another category of prior art, electric toothbrushes are connected to an external reservoir of water. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,429 combines a mechanical toothbrush with an irrigator feature. The motor used to move the bristles is also used to draw water from an outside source, not contained within the toothbrush. The water is drawn from the outside source, propelled through the neck of the toothbrush, and expelled out of the head of the toothbrush. Other electric toothbrushes which are tethered to a source of water include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,958,629 and D318,918.
Various problems in both categories exist and are associated with the fact that the toothbrush must be tethered or connected to an outside source of water. In the first instance, when the toothbrush is tethered to a faucet, the user cannot use the toothbrush to spray other liquids such as antiseptic solutions. In the second instance, when the toothbrush is connected to an outside reservoir of water, the user's range of motion is limited as the end of the tether must remain in the outside reservoir at all times. In addition, when an electric toothbrush is tethered to an outside source, the user cannot control the force in which the water is propelled out of the toothbrush. The force is pre-set by the speed of the motor and can only be turned on or off. Furthermore, the units are bulky and are not made to be portable, oftentimes causing the user to own a separate toothbrush for traveling.
With the onset of mechanical and electrical toothbrushes the total cost of the oral cleaning devices have increased. To offset the overall price of the devices the heads of the toothbrushes have been made replaceable. As such, after the bristles become worn from continual use, the head may be replaced without replacing the whole unit. However, the worn heads are simply replaced with an identical head to provide the same type of cleaning. The ability to interchange heads to provide different types of cleaning, for example to interchange heads to provide an irrigator for rinsing, to provide a brush with water jet for cleaning teeth and gums, to provide a brush or scraper with water jet for cleaning the tongue, and to provide a flossing head with replaceable disposable floss with water jet to remove plaque between teeth, is not widely incorporated with prior art oral cleaning devices.
It is therefore an object of one embodiment of the present invention to provide a self-contained, total oral cleaning device that incorporates opening(s) for jetting a pressurized fluid onto a user's teeth. The oral cleaning device in accordance with the present invention includes a reservoir for holding a liquid and a pump for pressurizing the liquid contained in the reservoir. The reservoir is contained within the oral cleaning device eliminating the need to tether the device to a faucet or attach the device to an outside source of liquid. The oral cleaning device also includes a means for releasing the pressurized liquid contained within the reservoir out of the oral cleaning device. The oral cleaning device is completely portable and assists the user in cleaning their entire mouth, including the tongue, gums, and teeth, by providing interchangeable heads. The present invention also provides a mechanically moving head to provide oscillating bristles, or oscillating flossing head or oscillating irrigating head to provide a complete oral cleaning.